“This is what Hansi Flick did that made Barcelona humiliated us two times this season, Arteta is doing the same thing…I’m scared now”: Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti reveals what Mikel Arteta has done that has brought fear upon him ahead of Champions League quarter-final clash
Carlo Ancelotti says Mikel Arteta has built Arsenal into a “complete” team and believes Martin Odegaard is one of the best players in Europe.
Real Madrid boss Ancelotti will come up against Arsenal manager Arteta on Tuesday in the first-leg of the Champions League quarter-final at the Emirates Stadium.
And the Italian boss was full of praise for the job Arteta has done at Arsenal since taking over.
“He’s doing a fantastic job,” he said.
“He arrived here when I was at Everton in 2020. He’s brought this team to the top of Europe and he’s doing a fantastic job.
“He’s built a complete team. There aren’t many teams that I would say are complete in Europe. There are lots of teams who do certain things very well but there aren’t many that do everything as well as Arsenal do.
“He’s doing a fantastic job. He is near the top of the Premier League, he’s in the quarter-final of the Champions League. From 2020 until now, he did really well.
“The team is stronger compared with the past and it’s going to be stronger in the future. Of course his job is fantastic.”
Ancelotti also lauded Gunners midfielder Odegaard, who played for Real Madrid before he made the move to Arsenal.
The Real Madrid boss says the Norwegian had to leave the Spanish giants in order to realise his potential, which he says he has now done.
“I saw him as a really young player but the talent he has now is the same talent he had when he was 17,” he explained.
“He’s had the character and the courage to go elsewhere, to seek out new experiences and become one of the best players in Europe.
“When he arrived (at Real Madrid) he was really young and he didn’t have space to play in the first team because in front he had Ronaldo, Benzema, James Rodriguez, and he didn’t find the space to show his quality.
“He was really young, he decided to go away to have the possibility to play and I think he did well because now he is at one of the most important clubs in Europe.”
